


Night Owls

by Starfall16



Series: Bonding Moments [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 10:43:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15639132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starfall16/pseuds/Starfall16
Summary: A Collection of Short Stories about the red and green paladins.Each work is created with help from another person, credited in the notes. If you want to help by playing one of the other paladins, I am looking for a Shiro and a Hunk.





	Night Owls

**Author's Note:**

> "Sometimes a 3 AM coughing fit does wonders for team bonding."
> 
> Keith is sick, and Pidge comes to comfort him. But after the truth about his heritage is revealed, there is still some unresolved tension between the two. 
> 
>  
> 
> Created in collaboration with tumblr user @aspacepupper

The boy had been oddly tired lately, looking paler than usual. He had to go lie down every once in a while to regain some energy, but it didn’t seem to do much. Keith ignored Shiro’s requests for him to take some medicine and rest. There were Galra attacks at any point in time, and he couldn’t risk missing one of the fights to take a break. He was walking to the kitchen for some water and Keith’s legs just seemed to go out from under him. Keith collapsed on the ground, suddenly getting a raging fever and a headache. It took all his strength just to try and stand up, but he didn’t get more than a few inches off the ground before falling back down. He just hoped someone was around to help so he wouldn’t be stuck on the floor for hours.  
Pidge walked into the kitchen, and jumped in surprise when she was greeted by a groan from Keith on the floor.  
"Oh, dude. Didn't listen to Shiro?"  
Keith looked up from the floor and tried to sit up. "Thanks for helping me up." He muttered in a salty tone.  
"Of course bud. But you really should listen to Shiro."  
"Like I told him, it's probably just space allergies or something." He leaned against the wall to stay upright.  
She sat down next to the red paladin. "It doesn't seem like it. You said you didn't have allergies. Maybe it's something to do with your..." She hesitated. There was still some tension between the two after the whole adventure with the Blade of Marmora. She knew Keith was still on their side, but she couldn't help being a little scared because of everything she and her family had been through. But her curiosity about learning more masked her fear for the most part.  
Keith leaned his head in his hand. "With my what?" He questioned, looking over to her and raising an eyebrow. What in the world was she thinking about that she didn't want to say out loud? A dry and hoarse cough came from his throat as he turned the other way. "You can say it. I've heard just about everything by now."  
Pidge looked up at him, and immediately felt horrible. What was she thinking? Keith wasn't a bad guy! Never had been. She hated herself for feeling this way. She sighed, and finally spoke. "With your newly discovered..." She paused again, before continuing. "Galra blood?" She saw the look on his face and immediately started rambling. "I mean, just from a scientific standpoint, maybe something is different with you now knowing and-"  
"Yeah, maybe." He said turning away to cough again. "I just haven't ever really gotten sick before." Keith brought his knees to his chest to rest his arms on them. Every part of him was just sore and he wanted to sleep. He let his head fall back against the wall. "Next thing you know, I'll be growing fluffy ears and more purple skin. It's all a surprise to me." He removed one glove where his hand had already started turning from tan to violet.  
She held back a gasp. Part of her wanted to reach out and examine his hand, but the other part knew that this action wouldn't be appreciated by her teammate. Instead, she frowned and looked at the floor. Her voice grew uncharacteristically small and quiet, as she let her walls come down. And Keith could almost feel the fear and guilt. Sometimes a 3 AM coughing fit does wonders for team bonding. They might as well be called the night owls of the the team, keeping terrible hours and sleep schedules. And with no one else around, the red paladin could feel her pain. And she could feel his. As he was pondering this, that quiet voice finally spoke. "I'm sorry."  
Keith tilted his head and looked at her. He held back a coughing fit. Every time a harsh cough or sneeze occurred, the purple spread a little more. "What are you sorry for?" He wanted to hug her and say that everything was fine, but didn't want to risk having a coughing fit on another person. Keith put the glove back on to hide it. "There's no reason to apologize. I'm the one who should say sorry for worrying you all." He sighed and looked up towards the ceiling, just thinking.  
"There is a reason to be sorry. I'm going to be honest. I'm scared of you Keith." She glanced at him, and then looked away quickly. "I don't want to be. I know I shouldn't. It's just hard. But i'm also scared for you, Keith. I haven't been trying to avoid you. But I have been. And I hope that you didn't think that I hated you." She turned to face him, this time with her full body. "I know you don't want to be examined or anything. You've made that clear to Coran and Allura. But I want to see if I can help you." She stood, and offered her hand to help him up. "If you'll let me?"  
He stared at her with a bit of concern. She was scared of him? That certainly didn't help his self-confidence. Keith looked away to try and consider her offer. Maybe if he let her help, she would find that there was no reason to be scared of him anymore. "Alright..." He didn't take her hand to get up. Part of it was fearing about if he could hurt someone with the purple spreading in his hand or not. After all, he didn't know what it was capable of. Keith shakily stood up, coughing into his arm once he actually got up. "What exactly are you going to do though?"  
She looked him in the eyes, purple in color. That made so much more sense now. She began walking to Green's hanger, which overtime had also become her makeshift lab until she could convince Coran to let her use the castle's high tech one. She was nervous about him falling, but she wanted to keep facing forward. Turning you back to someone shows that you trusted them. It was showing weakness. Showing that you didn't need to be afraid. "Just some scans. I can have them uploaded and try to find out what's causing that change."  
It was difficult to stay up without falling, but he kept walking anyways, stopping every once in a while if he tripped over his own feet. He felt a little bad that she was still seeming afraid of him, keeping a distance between the two of them. Keith coughed hoarsely again, and this time, the purple spread out from under his glove. He just hoped that this was something they could actually fix.


End file.
